On Tuesday we went to the womens support group in the morning. We had ordered dresses, skirts and aprons from them that they make and they turned out beautiful! our last day with them was perfect :) we were able to spend almost the whole day with them just hanging out and talking, some of the girls in the community came and performed dances and sang for us, they invited their "counselor" which is equivalent to their mayor to come talk with us, some of them had their husbands come to meet us and they made us all necklaces and earings out of rocks that they got at the river. it was so sweet of them and we were all so touched at all that they did for us.
All of the women were so inspiring to us - their stories and the way they live their lives were such an encouragement. i loved getting to know each and every one of them.
On our last day we went to the gogos in the morning and got to play telephone with them, give them back rubs, paint their nails and end with a dance party :) it was so much fun - they are all such sweet hearts and such a joy to be around. we all wished we could have had more time with them in previous weeks, but were still thankful for the time we had with them!
On our last afternoon with the kids we did face painting! they all were so excited to get their faces painted, some of them even started asking for our names to be written on their foreheads - it was hilarious! we had so much fun and it was the perfect afternoon to end our time with these kids. we had bubbles and popcorn and just laughed and had fun!
All of us with Gloria and Beatriz (the care takers for the kids) - they made our time with the kids so enjoyable helping us learn phrases to say to the kids in Isizulu, songs to sing with them and always so much fun to be around! they made us laugh, and we made them laugh - i will miss them so much and the time we had with them!
Our two translators and the social worker at RivLife all made our time so great. Thendai (social worker) planned out most that we did in our time there and our translators, Thabsile and Thendeka, were always so great in all that we did. they became good friends of ours and i am going to miss seeing them everyday and having our conversations.
This is Azola on the last day after one of the girls painted my name on his forehead. Azola stole my heart the first day i saw him smile.
Azola's older sister, Buhle, would come in the afternoons and pick him up after she would have a meal and hang out for a little bit. she too has a special place in my heart. seeing the way she cares for Azola and loves him gave me hope for his future. after seeing all that i had the opportunity to at RivLife, i had lots of unanswered questions but still a lot of hope. i know God is working here, and being able to see Him in the people here has been encouraging. i see God in how Buhle loves Azola, how the womens support group goes out into their community to help those who also are HIV positive, how the gogos meet to support one another, and in how all the people we met were open to us and loving. the people i met have made a difference in my life and i am so grateful for the opportunity i had to serve at RivLife with my wonderful team.
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